[Note: To follow is an excerpt of an interview with David O. Kingston, Chairman and CEO of Kingston Companies, an Idaho Falls, Idaho privately held group of 25 enterprises with a concentration in real estate development, agriculture, and power generation; Michael Anderson, Founder and co-owner, Nate Hanks, Co-Owner and Blaine Walker, President, all with RealSource in Salt Lake City, a commercial real estate provider of a full menu of institutional level services and products to help the entrepreneurial real estate investor invest well. To listen to the show archive or download an MP3, go to www.IncomePropertyInvestmentTalk.com/052709.]

Mosca: You mentioned some of the states where the assets exist. Can you talk about the size of the portfolio?

Kingston: The portfolio we bid on was $1.2 billion worth of assets that would not include any accrued interest on any of these loans, that’s just the face value of the loan amount. I mentioned that those were concentrated in four states but we do have assets from New York to Washington state to Florida so the asset basis is fairly broad in terms of geographical location.

Mosca: Is there a virtual marketplace somewhere where investors can go?

Kingston: Yes. We know that technology now plays a huge role in all transactions. The Kingston Group put together what we call a dashboard. A dashboard has all the pertinent information on every single asset. Essentially every detail on every loan and its history is on that database. RealSource, in conjunction with Kingston Management Services, put together a virtual marketplace so that that data can be accessed by qualified bidders on a real-time basis. Any information that's within the portfolio can be accessed for evaluating individual properties.

Anderson: The idea behind the virtual deal room or as David said the virtual marketplace is to provide all of the documentation necessary for a qualified investor to make an investment decision. All of the due diligence, the information on the property or the asset, are available. Plus, there’s an easy process to get qualified. We need to know that you have the capacity to actually make one of these investments and based on those qualifications, we'll give you exposure to the assets that best match what you’re looking for and what you can afford to invest in. The actual transaction process is pretty simple.

Mosca: How can an investor get qualified?

Anderson: Go to incomepropertyinvestmenttalk.com/052709, and give us generic information about yourself. What we want to do is just to make sure that these are suitable investments for the investors who want to invest in this package and I can't imagine why you wouldn’t. This is such a great opportunity. People at RealSource are under contract with the Kingston Group to make sure that this is an orderly marketplace and things are done effectively and efficiently for those who are involved. We want to make sure that you have a source of funds that is sufficient to actually acquire some of this and trust me it doesn't require a lot. There are opportunities for everybody here.

Mosca: Will investors be able to review the entire package or any files associated with the package prior to making a decision to invest?

Walker: Yes. Once they have signed a nondisclosure agreement and the Kingston Group has that in their files then we can release information to them for them to review and look at the specific assets. As David mentioned, once they’ve decided on properties that they have an interest in pursuing we can allow them to go into the virtual deal room and look at all of the information on the properties so that they can make a wise decision and make a valid offer.

Kingston: It’s an easier process once foreclosed upon. You’re not dealing with the note itself and all of the title issues, the positions of lean and so forth that can be a little more complicated.

Mosca: The National Association of REALTORS reported that existing home sales rose 2.9% in April. Why are these numbers relevant?

Anderson: In this particular package, there are residential or residential lots or land for residential use. Clearly you see from this administration a push to get people back into homes and to push home sales. It is starting to have an effect. The tax credit is definitely bringing first-time homebuyers to the market and housing will lead to our recovery. There are signs all around that we are hitting the bottom. It might be kind of a rocky bottom but the general consensus of economists is that we will move away from recession this year. My first thought would be a recession is a horrible thing to waste. This kind of pricing is just not going to be available in the next few years. Remember, as demand increases prices follow. You need to react to this market and you need to do it today especially with the kind of interest rates and incentives that are out there.

Mosca: Can brokers and agents take advantage of this opportunity, not only personally but also if they have clients who might be interested?

Walker: Certainly. The real estate community has the buyers that have been waiting for an opportunity like this to purchase. We’ve met with a number of brokers across the country and discussed what their clients are looking for and without question they all state that they are looking for an opportunity to get back into the real estate market but they want to make certain that they can buy a lot at a reasonable price. They don't want to buy the top of the market, they want to buy something that is discounted and ready to go and in this particular situation the FDIC has already handled the discounting. The opportunity to come in and purchase for their clients is excellent. If they have an agency agreement or a client that they’ve worked with for a number of years or clients that are looking for specific properties, they can enter an agreement with their client and obviously bid on any of these products.

Hanks: The economy is having its challenges. From our perspective, we are close to the bottom. We can never time the bottom perfectly just like you don’t ever want to time the top of a market perfectly. One of the strengths of our economic team over the past 20 years is that we have been able to notice the trends. The important point is there are opportunities and deals right now that people need to take advantage of.

Mosca: Gentlemen, can you please give me your golden nugget?

Kingston: By the time the media and everybody picks up on the opportunities the opportunity is gone. Timing is always the most critical element of an investment. The time is now.

Anderson: We had opportunities to invest in a number of packages. We chose to invest with the Kingston Group because we like the assets. They are poised perfectly for the market today and markets that are likely to recover first. Don’t waste this opportunity. Get a hold of these assets.

Walker: We have record low mortgage interest rates and those that get in and purchase some of these notes obviously have an opportunity to go through the process of proofing up the asset and then sell the asset to buyers out there that can now obtain financing.

Hanks: How often have you said to yourself, “I wish they would’ve done this, I wish I would’ve done that, I wish I would've jumped in the market and bought as much real estate as I could back in 09 and 10.” Hindsight is 20/20. Take advantage of the perfect storm right now. Jump in now. There are great opportunities.

[To get started, go to www.incomepropertyinvestmenttalk.com/052709 and fill out the form].

Published: July 2, 2009

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Peter L. Mosca is president and founder of BAK Communications, Inc. He has over 22 years of communications and media consulting experience, serving a variety of nonprofit organizations, including the CCIM Institute and the REALTOR Association on all three levels – national, state and local. He is the Spokesperson Trainer for the CCIM's Jay Levine Academy and trains hundreds of residential REALTORS nationwide to be effective industry spokespeople. He is consistently ranked as "excellent" by about 90% of those who attend his presentations. While his principal consulting focuses are public speaking and media relations development and content delivery and management, Peter is also the host of the Voice America Network's weekly radio program, "Income Property Investment Talk," a one-hour program that brings the powerhouses of commercial and residential real estate to property investors every Wednesday at 11 a.m. EST. Peter is married 17 years to his wife Barbara. They have two children: Ashley, 15 and Kelli, 12. Hence, the name BAK Communications, Inc.